Articles about Lifestyle

Projecting travel costs is equal parts estimation, experience & indexing. The data for this visualation employs OECD & Worldbank indices as well as datasets produced by hotels.com, airbnb, various travel sites, as well as deliberative spot checking. The result is price estimates for accommodations, food, nightlife and activities in various global... Read More

Click here for a zoomable, hi-res version of the chart. When it comes to our basic needs - and the basic expenditures it takes to meet them - none is more important than food. We decided to kick off our 2018 Global Basic Needs Comparison series by showing how far $100 USD will go to provide for a single person's daily nourishment, measured in... Read More

Whether you walk, bike, ride or drive to work, one factor is constant: commutes take time. We recently compiled data on average (mean) commute times for the largest 100 U.S. statistical areas, and ranked them from longest to shortest. Because the vast majority of Americans commute by car, we also included an estimate for the cost of fuel. Here... Read More

Leasing your ride comes with some serious perks. You get to sport a new car every few years, you don't ever have to worry about maintenance, and at the end of the day you get to walk away without the hassle of stressing over depreciation and resale. Awesome, right? Definitely... but only if you can afford it. In this Cost Comparison, we're going... Read More

Congratulations! You have just entered a contract to buy your first house. It's an exciting time that instills feelings of security for you and your family, but also confusion and anxiety when considering the upcoming monthly payments. While your mortgage payments can be structured in a variety of ways, we want to help guide you through the... Read More

Other Articles

Access a hi-res version of this chart here. The preliminary results of this study were published September 25, 2018. It has since been updated for clarity and better visual context. Absent context, the cost of housing doesn't tell you very much about affordability. Half-a-mil for a 3-bedroom condo in Manhattan is unheard of, whereas half that... Read More

Click here for a hi-res version of the chart above. Here at Walletwyse, we believe that successful personal finance requires a keen understanding of the financial health of your city, state & even country. Most people aren't internationally mobile, but the investment decisions we make should be informed by our understanding of international... Read More

This is a visual representation of Numbeo.com's rental index for U.S. and Canadian Cities (June 16, 2018). Indices are imperfect as a reference for a specific location, but they are a great way to compare locations. One of the interesting things about this dataset is visually associating cities you wouldn’t otherwise associate, based on similar... Read More

This is a list of 540 cities, grouped by average monthly apartment cost, from Granada, Spain & Phuket, Thailand (avg. rent $450) to Akron, Ohio & Taipei, Taiwan ($650), to my favorite, Abu Dhabi, UAE & Seattle, WA ($1950). The reason we didn’t select a map-based chart is because the visuals of a map draw your eye to a location first and then to... Read More

That $5 a day coffee habit can delay retirement by up to 3 years. Purchasing a $5 coffee from a coffee shop every day instead of brewing at home or drinking what is available at the office can not only delay retirement by itself, but it can give you ulcers realizing how much money and financial freedom you have guzzled down. Don’t do it!... Read More

Congratulations! You've bought your dream house, or maybe your first house, which is also a dream. Maybe you've bought a house that you plan to remodel one day, or one that you don't love but is home for now. Whichever the case may be, you have big choices to make. Do you pay off your mortgage over the life of the note or do you pay it down early?... Read More

The 529 is a tax-advantaged college savings tool that can be extremely useful depending on a family's financial situation. 529s act like other investment accounts but they allow for tax-free withdraws for qualified education expenses. Much like a 401k or IRA, funds can be withdrawn for other purposes, but they will be taxed and penalized 10% in... Read More

Before you purchase your next ride, wise up to these factors, two of which almost no-one measures. You might still get some wheels, but perhaps not the ones you expected. The Cost Comparison series is by-the-numbers look at two different options for various discretionary financial decisions. The format follows the Wyse approach: collect basic... Read More

Car purchases can be one of the most exciting, stressful, and expensive decisions we make in our lives. The day of your purchase is merely the beginning of the financial adventure that is car ownership. Whether you opt for a fuel efficient commuter car, truck to haul tools or a boat, or the sports car you always dreamed of, some basic knowledge... Read More

Retirement planning can be as simple or as complex as desired. Setting up 401k withholding, or hiring a financial planner to optimize savings are easy ways to simplify your retirement strategy. Simple and effective are attainable for everyone. There are two other goals everyone should strive for in their retirement planning, inexpensive and... Read More